Not one to be deterred though, I asked my mum to come to my rescue when dishing up Ginger Pork, for a friend’s baby shower potluck. It was that morning that I found myself gushing with a new found respect for my mum. She whipped out the knife and started to julienne the ginger at lightning speed. My brain couldn’t help but chime, “Yan can cook & so can Mum!” 😛

It’s hard to find great Chinese recipes online so let me share one with you. This has been a favourite among my ex-colleagues, even my American and Korean ones!

Disclaimer: Like many seasoned cooks, my mum whips up dishes by estimating the amount of each ingredient needed (or as Singaporeans affectionately term it, “Agaration”) I too, had to resort to agaration to put this recipe together.

Mum’s Ginger Pork

800g Sliced Lean Pork

1 Ginger, peeled and julienned

2 Shallots, sliced

2 Chilli padi, sliced

5 Spring Onions, cut into 3cm pieces

2 Big Pinches Corn Starch

1 tbsp Corn Starch Water

1 – 2 tbsp Sesame Oil

1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

1 – 2 tbsps Dark Soy Sauce

2 cups Water (add slowly if you’re afraid; it should cover the 3/4 of the pork)

To taste Sugar

To taste Salt

Instructions

Marinate pork with sesame oil, light soy sauce, corn starch

On high heat, stir fry ginger and shallots continuously until they brown

Add pork and stir fry continuously

Add water and let simmer on medium heat

Add dark sauce for colour, chilli, spring onions, sugar and salt

Add a little corn starch water to thicken sauce

Serve up hot, with steamed rice

Feeds 3 very hungry people or 4 normal folks

And off it went to the potluck! Check out the food I had to eat that day. 😀

Final Product: Ginger Pork

I took nicer photos of the Ginger Pork with my DSLR. Look out for these photos soon (if I remember)! 😛

I had an interesting conversation with my Korean colleague, Jee, today. She has been living in Singapore for two years and always had problems ordering coffee at a local coffee shop. Since the uncle at the coffee shop can’t understand her, she ends up ordering Kopi O every single time!

“Why Kopi C, and not A or B?” she asks.

The terms used in our beverage names are not English. For instance, “O” in Kopi O is not part of the alphabet; it is the Hokkien word for “Black”. Another example is ‘Kosong’, the Malay word for ‘zero’, which refers to coffee or tea without sugar or milk. That’s why there’s no Kopi A and B! 😛

Order Coffee like a Singaporean

Good terms to know and add to your order:

O – Black with Sugar (pronounced as a short version of “Awe”)

C – With Evaporated Milk; like a latte – a lot more milk than regular coffee

Kosong – Without Sugar or Milk

Gah Dai – With Extra Condensed Milk (pronounced as Ga – Die)

Xiu Dai – With Less Sugar (pronounced as Seeyou-Die) HAHA!!

Po – Thinner/Weaker

Gau – Stronger (pronounced like ‘Cow’ with a G in front)

Peng – Iced

Coffee

Kopi – Coffee with Sweetened Condensed Milk

Kopi Gau – Stronger Coffee with Milk

Kopi ‘O’ – Black Coffee with Sugar

Kopi ‘O’ Kosong – Black Coffee without Sugar, similar to Americano

Kopi ‘O’ Po – Weaker/Thinner Black Coffee

Kopi Peng – Iced Coffee

Kopi C – Coffee with Evaporated Milk and a little Condensed Milk; lots of milk like a latte

If you want thinner iced black coffee with sugar, you’ll say:

Coffee + Black + Thinner + Ice = Kopi O Po Peng

For tea, substitute Kopi with Teh (like “tai” in “tailor”). Try it and see how you fare! 🙂